The present invention relates to a method of order-picking articles from a first number of providing sections into a corresponding number of order-depositing sections by means of a second number of order-pickers, a respective order-picking zone being formed by a providing section, in which a certain range of articles is provided, and an order-depositing section, on which articles which are put together for an order from the range of articles are deposited, this resulting in the formation of a first number of order-picking zones which, together, form an order-picking region, and an order-picking computer (also referred to as an order-picking master computer) for the order-picking zones generating zone orders in each case and communicating these to the order-pickers.
The present invention also relates to a corresponding order-picking apparatus which is suitable, in particular, for implementing the method.
Order-picking is the operation of putting together goods from a provided range of articles in accordance with predetermined orders. An order-picking system is intended to perform this task for a required throughput of articles or article units—also referred to as goods or picking units—with minimal use of personnel, and with short order-processing times, in as reliable, error-free and cost-effective a manner as possible.
The task of order-picking articles is a complex one, in particular when the overall range of the articles which are to be picked is heterogeneous, be this in respect of the shape of the articles, the popularity of the articles (fast movers, slow movers, etc.) and/or other criteria.
The possible technical alternatives for providing the access quantities, for moving the order-picker along, for picking the goods and for depositing the order quantities are well known in the art.
These basic principles are manifested in various configurations of order-picking systems, for example the classic order-picking machines. These are suitable for fast-moving articles which can be handled in an automated manner, for example cuboidal boxes or the like. The articles here are ejected from chutes onto a conveying belt in an automated manner, being controlled by an order-picking computer, and thus put together to form customer orders.
If the range of articles also includes slow-moving articles and/or articles which are difficult to handle in an automated manner, or if the range of articles is heterogeneous overall, people are usually used for order-picking purposes. In addition to conventional, purely manual order-picking systems, there are order-picking systems in which the order-pickers are guided by an order-picking computer. This can be done, in the simplest case, by indicator elements. It is also possible, however, for the order-picker to have a terminal, in particular a wireless terminal such as a radio terminal, on which he receives instructions from the order-picking computer.
EP 0 839 113 B1 discloses an order-picking system with at least one such central belt for receiving articles which are to be put together in accordance with an order and picked from a store by order-pickers. The articles which are put together to form the order are transferred from the central belt (belt conveyor) into order containers at a transfer point. The order containers are transported away by means of a conveying installation.
A multiplicity of intermediate-storage containers arranged one beside the other are arranged above the central belt. The intermediate-storage containers are intended for temporarily receiving articles which make up a respective order, and can be emptied onto the central conveyor in an automated manner with control by means of an order-picking computer.
The order-picking system, furthermore, is designed for employing a number of order-pickers. A respective order-picking zone (referred to as order-picking region in the relevant document) is defined by a predetermined number of intermediate-storage containers arranged one beside the other. The order-picker is guided into the store by means of a radio terminal. Each order-picking zone here is assigned a predetermined number of product types in the store.
A similar system is described in WO 96/36547. This document proposes that an order-picker be controlled by a central order-picking computer so as to move progressively along the intermediate-storage containers (or along the region-specific conveyor).
Document EP 0 839 113 B1, in contrast, proposes that the control computer be intended for guiding each of the order-pickers, via the radio terminal, not just into an associated dedicated order-picking zone but also into at least one supplementary order-picking zone adjacent to the associated order-picking zone.
This is intended to achieve the situation where the efficiency of the system remains unaffected, in practice, by differences in the efficiencies of the individual order-pickers and/or their workloads. It is considered to be particularly preferred here if an order-picker, when his neighbor is overloaded, can go into his neighbor's providing section (storage region) in order to “help out”. The system is thus intended to be capable of taking into account differences in the personal distribution times of an order-picker in that it can automatically divide up the work between adjacent order-pickers.
In other words, when one order-picker is overloaded, an order-picker from a neighboring zone is guided into the order-picking zone of the overloaded order-picker in order to reduce the overloading there.
It is also proposed here, as an alternative, to guide the “helping-out order-picker” to the order-depositing sections of the overloaded order-picker or both to the providing sections and the order-depositing sections of the overloaded order-picker. It turns out to be particularly preferred, however, if the order-picker who is helping out is guided into the providing section (storage region) of the overloaded order-picker.
The meaning of this strategy is explained by way of a simulation in EP 0 839 113 B1. It can be gathered from the simulation that, in relation to a simulated overall working time of 5 hours×20 order-pickers=100 hours, a saving of 1.09 hours is achieved over a simplified strategy. This means that the order-picking strategy proposed in this document achieves an improvement of 1% in relation to an order-picking system in which each order-picker remains in his order-picking region (order-picking zone in the terms of the present application).